(Yicai Global) April 29 -- The proportion of China residents expecting house prices to rise this quarter is just 23 percent, according to central bank figures from a survey conducted in the first three months.

The figure was down from 26.5 percent in a fourth quarter survey tracking opinions of prices in January to March, the People’s Bank of China said in a report yesterday that showed public pessimism toward the real estate market. The survey was sent to 20,000 depositors in 50 cities nationwide.

Some 48 percent of respondents in the latest survey expect house prices to remain largely unchanged, down 3.5 percentage points from the last questionnaire. 13.1 percent were unsure, compared with 10.9 percent previously.

Just 10.7 percent of respondents’ reported a rise in income, down 6.6 points from the previous quarter. 61.8 percent said their income had not changed, down 8.8 points, and 27.5 percent said their income had fallen, compared with 12.1 percent in the previous survey. The overall index for income confidence stood at 45.9 percent, down 7.2 points from a quarter earlier.

This led to 53 percent of residents tending to save more in the first quarter, up 7.3 points, while 22 percent leaned toward consumption, down 6 points. 25 percent, 1.3 points less than previously, were investing more. 31.5 percent of all invested said they were investing more in education, 29.4 percent in healthcare and 19.2 percent in property.

Editor: James Boynton